New theory: Euclides Monteiro, a former Ocean's Club employee, may have stolen Madeleine in revenge for losing his job after stealing money to fund a drug habit, reports claim

The key suspect being investigated over Madeleine McCann's disappearance who died in a freak tractor accident was a heroin addict who robbed apartments to fund his habit, it has been claimed.

Euclides Monteiro was fired from his job in the restaurant at the Ocean's Club in Praia da Luz a year before the McCann's came to stay in May 2007.

But reports claim he was caught stealing from the tills and raiding the resort's rooms for valuables to sell in exchange for drugs.

An investigation is now under way to determine whether Monteiro, who was run over by a tractor at the age of 40 in 2009, took Maddie in revenge for losing his job.

Close friend Sergio Paulo, 44, a builder from Lagos, told the Daily Mirror: 'Toni was a good guy but he had some serious drug problems. He would smoke heroin and become a slave to it.

'I know he would sometimes break into apartments and rob them. He was taking valuables from rooms at Ocean Club and selling them for drugs.'

Police identified him as their main suspect after mobile phone records indicated he was around the McCanns’ holiday apartment in Praia da Luz when Maddie disappeared on May 3 2007

The flat is a 15-minute drive from the town of Lagos where he was living after he stopped working at the Ocean Club.

Yesterday, it emerged Monteiro, from Cape Verde in West Africa, was convicted of theft in 1996 but escaped deportation after a presidential pardon.

However, his family deny the allegation.

Motive: Police are investigating whether Monteiro, who died in 2009 in a tractor accident, killed Madeleine

Prime suspect: E-fits of the man seen carrying a child 500 yards from the McCanns' holiday apartment

Monteiro's widow Luisa, who has been questioned by police, told local media: ‘They are looking for a suspect that can't defend himself.

‘Peoples' lives can't be exposed this way.’

A
source told Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha that police believe he may have killed the
youngster to ‘shut her up’ when he saw the huge media response to the
disappearance - and are now trying to find her body.

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Portugal’s Attorney-General gave the
go-ahead for the investigation into the girl’s disappearance to be
reopened last week at the request of local police – more than five years after the original inquiry was
shelved.

Correio da Manha claimed: ‘Police suspicions about the former
Ocean Club employee arose during the review of the case carried out by a
PJ team from Porto.

‘This was the strongest new lead presented to state prosecutors which led to the investigation being reopened.

‘The
man, who died aged 40 in a tractor accident in 2009, was not on the
list of employees handed over to police during the initial investigation
by the Ocean Club because at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance he
was not working there.’

It
described his departure from the Ocean Club as ‘frictious’ and said:
‘The motives that could have caused the ex-employee to kidnap the
youngster are still being investigated.’

Hope: The McCann's lawyer said that the couple, seen here with a computer generated image of how Madeleine might have looked in 2012, are still motivated by the belief that she is still alive

It
suggests that he may ‘have committed the kidnap as a form of
retaliation against the Ocean Club. His aim could have been to call into
question the security of the holiday club but something went wrong and
the youngster disappeared.’

Portuguese police and a spokesman for the McCanns declined to comment on the newspaper report yesterday.

It emerged over the weekend that police were planning to reinterview several Ocean Club employees.

More
than 130 workers were questioned during the initial inquiry, including
two men who fixed a blind in the McCanns’ apartment two days before
Madeleine disappeared.

Portuguese
police are thought to have returned to the Praia da Luz area about a
month ago to carry out mobile phone tracking work.

Last
week it emerged that Kate and Gerry McCann are to apply under
Portuguese law to become private ‘prosecutors’ and may now be able to
influence the course of the investigation and any prosecution.

Their
status as ‘assistentes’ will allow their legal team to work alongside
state prosecutors, keeping the McCanns informed of all new developments
in the case.

They could also bring a parallel private prosecution against any suspects charged over Maddie’s disappearance.

A
secrecy order put on the case by Portugal’s Attorney General could also
be lifted just for them, giving access to all case files.

New leads: The investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine was reopened following a case review